


You're Not

by Taitai83



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Light Angst, They'll Be Ok, a little fight, secret identities causing issues, set sometime in season 3 after weredad, they're partners though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:36:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26141968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taitai83/pseuds/Taitai83
Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir have a fight about his flirting. He is adamant that they're meant to be, she has other ideas.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 77





	You're Not

**Author's Note:**

> I'm struggling with the next chapter of my other fic so I blasted this out instead. I've had this little scene in my head for ages but don't have the bandwidth to create a story around it. POV is Marinette's not the author's 

“This is just how I am,” Chat retorted, clearly defensive.

“No it _isn’t_ ,” Ladybug answered. “I KNOW it isn’t.”

“It is with YOU.”

“Chat,” she sighed, frustrated. They had been having this argument for 20 minutes and were nowhere near a conclusion. She was _tired_. “We have talked about this and talked about this. We aren’t going to be a couple.”

“We’re yin and yang. Two halves of a whole. I KNOW we’re meant to be.”

“We are PARTNERS, Chat. Our PARTNERSHIP is yin and yang, but that does NOT mean that we are destined to be lovers!”

He blushed a bit at the word, and she pressed her advantage.

“The flirting is distracting. Look what happened with Oblivio! The news footage was super clear! We were fighting about the flirting and that’s when you got hit. It has to stop!”

“But Oblivio is the perfect example of MY point! We forgot all the other complications and clearly fell for each other!”

“But in the real world we HAVEN’T lost our memories! I’m still in love with someone else, and you’re only in love with my mask!”

Chat drew back as if she had slapped him and she winced. That had come out harsher than she had intended, and on some level she knew it wasn’t totally true, but apparently she had to be brutal to get through to him.

“That is _not_ true!” he hissed, the hurt evident on his face. “How can you even say that? I love YOU! Not the mask or the yo-yo or the suit, YOU!”

“You don’t even know me, Chat,” she argued back. “You know Ladybug. You love Ladybug. But when this mask comes off, I’m not Ladybug anymore.”

“The girl under the mask MAKES you Ladybug!” he exclaimed vehemently.

“Doesn’t matter. _**I**_ am not Ladybug all the time. I don’t _want_ the other side of me to be Ladybug all the time.”

“And when I meet the other side of you, I’ll love her as well!”

“Except you _DON’T_ , CHAT!” Ladybug burst out, hitting her fists on the beam beneath her in frustration.

He frowned at her uncharacteristic display. 

“What do you mean?” he asked, his voice quieter.

She glared sideways at him, her frustrated tears wet around her eyes.

“I mean that you have _met_ me as a civilian, Chat.” She turned fully to meet his eye. 

“And you are not in love with me.”

A tense silence followed her pronouncement, and she could see the gears working in her partner’s head as he processed this information. As he turned back to her to speak, she anticipated him.

“We’ve met more than once.”

He closed his mouth and frowned, then opened it again.

“ _And_ it was for an extended period of time! In FACT-“ 

She cut herself off. She didn’t think there was any way to tell him that he had actually turned her _down_ without giving away her identity. She doubted a situation like that which had preceded her father getting akumatized happened often. At least she hoped it didn’t. 

Instead, she sighed. “There’s no technicality on this, Chat. You’re not in love with me as a civilian.”

She watched him chew on his lip, working through whatever he felt about her information. When he finally spoke again, all the fire had left his voice.

"You're sure?"

"Yes," she said firmly.

“You’re really sure, though? Not even a hint that I might have smothered some feelings for your- Ladybug’s sake?”

Ladybug hesitated. He _had_ shown up to brunch, but it had been to let her down. She could honestly say she didn’t think he felt anything for her beyond friendship.

“I’m sure, Chat.”

“I always thought I would know you immediately, if I met you outside the mask.”

Her frustration deflated at the sorrow in his voice, and she took his hand.

“This isn’t a movie Chat,” she said quietly. “There’s not going to be any thunderclap of recognition, or a lightning strike when our bare fingers touched or anything. We’re just normal people. Just with… extraordinary jewelry. Answer me this: have I met YOU as a civilian?”

He met her eyes and gave a small nod. Ladybug tried very hard to squash the immediate reel of blond haired guys she knew.

“And did I recognize you?”

He looked away again as he shook his head. She squeezed his hand.

“We’re partners, Chat. Amazing, incredible partners. But we’re not anything more than that. And I really need you to accept that.”

She saw him swallow before he answered. 

“I’ll try, Bug. For you.”

  
  



End file.
